So… after a day’s hard work of clearing up the lab ,our work resumed in full swing. The first phase of designing is almost done…. Have entered phase 2 and will then begin manufacturing the parts…. Still a long way to go but then , “well begun is half done…” . Even the moves are being conceptualised side by side…… watch out for further updates as we surge ahead in our quest to build the perfect humanoid…

Our whole life now revolves around motors, balance,torque, halfspeedcpu, motor drivers. When you spend 23 hrs 30 mins in the lab, go through those hairy and scary moments when components don’t work, algorithms crash, motors burn and future prospects look bleak, you begin to question is it all worth it ? And then things such as these happen over a night ( watch the videos and photos posted ) .

The ecstasy you experience when a years effort pays off is unexplainable ( I don’t know if this is even a word but am too happy to care ) . The kicks, walk sequence, the “Dho Daala” move ( internal joke ) are all falling in place. This only goes to show that we have finally arrived. RoboGames – HERE WE COME !

To all the alumni who have supported us immensely over the last year, Shammi Kapoor is not far away, nor for that matter Daler’s Bhangra. We hope to live up to your expectations.

Dilip, we will try our level best to imitate the inimitable. 🙂

I think I should get back to work. The motors would have cooled by now. More videos soon !

Off late we have been concentrating mainly on the AI of acyut besides its design. We’re at the moment thinking about specialising acyut in order to be successful in the RoboGames. We’re planning to concentrate on the wrestling and stair climbing events. For the wrestling event we will be using a remote control and on a virtual stage we have been able to turn,kick and punch using a remote control. As soon as the design limitations are completely weeded out we will be able to check if it works properly on the physical stage. We will be able to see the difference between its simulated working and its actual working. We have made a GUI( Graphical User Interface ) using visual basic so that we can program the robot much better. The programing is a lot more user friendly now. However, acyut is an independent robot and the GUI will not be used for running life. We are making the bot autonomous and not automated. I have enclosed a screen shot of the GUI.

Acyut 2 replaced Acyut 1 in order to overcome certain design limitations. However, it presented new and unexpected problems. One of the problems was that the legs were not strong enough to hold the batteries and the batteries kept coming out . This made it highly inconvenient for acyut to function smoothly. Another problem was that the motor placed in the chest was rotating the entire chest including the micro controller. This made the robot topple when the arms were rotated. These were problems which needed to be weeded out and they led to the death of Acyut 2. Then, Acyut 3 was born. How was Acyut 3 different ? The chest was devided into two parts , a chest part and a shoulder part. Now the motor rotated only the necessary parts and hence the robot did not topple whenever the arms were rotated. The batteries were back in the chest, this time we made sure that they were closer to the centre of the bot. Also the entire assembly was designed such that the batteries could be easily removed and recharged. We noticed that the weight of our body was not concentrated in our feet and hence we were once again learning from nature. 🙂 Acyut 3 is an agile robot which managed to root out most of the problems we were facing , however the desire to improve lives on. 🙂

You’ve seen acyut 1 , it was a remarkable success, but we felt it could be improved upon . It had certain shortcomings which we believed could and should be removed. The problem was that it had the batteries in front and the microcontroller behind. This particular design made it a bit too bulky and the centre of gravity was not in the right position. Hence it faced a few difficulties walking. Also, it was unable to balance on one hand. These were flexibilities which we wanted our robot to have. Therefore we had no choice but to move on. Acyut 1 was dead. With the fall of Acyut 1 came the rise of Acyut 2. Acyut 2 was able to overcome certain problems as the batteries were shifted to the legs. This lowered the centre of gravity considerably and made the robot much more stable. Therefore by making a few design adjustments and by learning from nature we were able to overcome certain problems.

Acyut

Acyut is the name of the biped designed by a group of students from BITS, Pilani . Acyut I is the humanoid being built by the same group. The group plans to participate in RoboGames being held at San Francisco in June this year and also in RoboCup in China in July.